Traveller Release Schedule 2026

[Arnie1701]

Oh, my order of 2300AD Invasion (Pt. 1) shipped!

 

[tytalan]

My thought is that merchant vessels in Vargr space are well armed with crews ready to counter-board if attacked.

This is like the age of piracy in the Caribbean. Trade didn't stop. The Spanish sailed galleon's full of gold right through the middle of the pirates. But every mechantman had to be ready to defend against attack.

It would seem to me that the way to protect against pirates in 400-dTon Rrazaghz Class Corsairs is to use larger merchant ships, say 5000-dTons, with very long ranged 50-dTon Particle Beam bays able to kill pirates before they get close. The best merchant ship captains would be former pirates with a nose for ambushes and a willingness to shoot first. In this scenario, merchants have the advantage. They would be willing to destroy their enemy as long as they got away safely. Pirates need to close with and capture their prey. Destroying the merchant ship leaves them without any loot.

If you look at the modern day Straits of Bab-al-Mandab, a piracy hot-spot, off the coasts of Yemen, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia, large oil tankers, container ships, and general cargo ships transit there everyday. Yes, some get hijacked, but nations have set up patrols to deter pirates, and the shipping companies have put mercenaries on-board to drive off boarding parties. Merchant ships taken by pirates are more often held for ransom. The pirates don't generally have the means to resell the ships or their contents in any meaningful way.

To me, the Vargr Extents would be Dodge City, everyone armed to the teeth, tip-towing around everyone else who is equally well armed. Yes, your cost of operations would be higher, but so would everyone else's, so the extra cost would just be baked into the cost of doing business.

- Kerry

Yea I would expect the Vargr equivalent of a Fartrader wouldn’t carry any passengers and would replace those staterooms with a missile/Particle barbette and a quad sandcaster turret the former for offense the later for defense and anti boarding. Possibly adding a ECM suit also. I suspect that passenger ships and cargo ships would be separate because of the potential of high jacking.

 

[WHULorigan]

I suspect that passenger ships and cargo ships would be separate because of the potential of high jacking.

I believe that as far back as CT/MT, Vargr were one of the first polities described employing "Packet Ships" (small passenger/small parcel & dispatch "packet" courrier trade).

Historically Packet Boats were the ancestor of the faster Clipper Ship, which gave way to the steam-powered Ocean Liner.

 

[Condottiere]

Packet craft were used extensively in European coastal mail services since the 17th century, and gradually added minimal passenger accommodation: "firing" (i.e. a place to cook), drinking water (often tasting of indigo or tobacco, which the water casks had previously held), and a place to sleep.[1] Scheduled services began to be offered, but the time taken by journeys on sailing ships depended a lot on the weather.

 

[tytalan]

I believe that as far back as CT/MT, Vargr were one of the first polities described employing "Packet Ships" (small passenger/small parcel & dispatch "packet" courrier trade).

Historically Packet Boats were the ancestor of the faster Clipper Ship, which gave way to the steam-powered Ocean Liner.

The Vargr Packet was a 600dt jump 3 maneuver 1 that carried missiles and sandcasters but carried a combination of cargo and passengers. It was more a long range armed fat trader.

 

[WHULorigan]

The Vargr Packet was a 600dt jump 3 maneuver 1 that carried missiles and sandcasters but carried a combination of cargo and passengers. It was more a long range armed fat trader.

But the Imperial Subsidized Liner was also 600 dton Jump 3 Maneuver 1. The fact that the Vargr version had more cargo space (I think) supports my observation.

Also, the T5 Packet definition is an unscheduled passenger and small parcel carrier.

 

[tytalan]

Also, the T5 Packet definition is an unscheduled passenger and small parcel carrier.

You specify mention Ct/Mt which is where I got my information

 

[WHULorigan]

You specify mention Ct/Mt which is where I got my information

Yes, I know. I am adding some additional conceptual background detail.

 

[tytalan]

Yes, I know. I am adding some additional conceptual background detail.

I’m not sure T5 is ever a good support for this kind of thing and the two ships have very different purposes but I see your thought pattern. I suspect that any Vargr ship that carries passengers will have a way of securing the control areas from the passengers area. Also I expect that almost all Vargr ships would be armed though I think merchants will probably shy away from missiles or heavy energy weapons for a host of reasons. Beam lasers with long range and high yield (if possible), Pluse lasers with Accuracy and High Yield, and finally Sand Casters with Very High Yield make the most sense for merchantmen. One the worlds are less likely to blow you away just in case you have a nuke or 12 aboard, two those weapons are more suitable for defense then other weapons, three merchant vessels generally lack the energy budget to support higher energy weapons. No merchant is going to be able to stand toe to toe with any sort of military vessel so the goal is to defend the ship until it can jump or get to a friendly planet.

 

[WHULorigan]

And also a Vargr vessel is more likely to be "Unscheduled Service" or a "Packet", as defined above (i.e. Advertised by the Captain as to where and when he is going somewhere with notice given) than a Liner (set routes and schedules, often owned/operated by a corporation). Otherwise, the Vargr "Packet" and Imperial Commercial Liner have similar basic performance Characteristics.

(BTW, for reference, the generic T5 "Packet" is usually 300-400 dton, J-3/M-(3 or 4?) Unscheduled Passenger (and small parcel/cargo) service, and usually armed, as it will often go where many commercial liners do not go, for the right price.)

 

[Sageryne]

I suspect that any Vargr ship that carries passengers will have a way of securing the control areas from the passengers area.

One possibility is that the passenger decks have no access to the crew areas in flight. The passengers and stewards board from the ground into a deck with only external doors. That way, if pirates did infiltrate as passengers, they would not be able to access the bridge or engineering spaces without blowing a hole in an internal bulkhead. If the crew had cameras monitoring the passenger areas, and they saw a take over in progress, they could open the doors remotely and space them (though that would be bad for the passengers not involved in the attempted hijacking).

 

[AndrewW]

If the crew had cameras monitoring the passenger areas, and they saw a take over in progress, they could open the doors remotely and space them (though that would be bad for the passengers not involved in the attempted hijacking).

Alternately just flood the area with a gas that will knock them out. Of course if they happen to be wearing VACC suits that might not work so well.